A Classic California Christmas

I love Christmas. I love coming home for Christmas. I love pulling into the driveway (this year we were towed in... but you get the idea) and having my mom and dad come out to greet us. I love the white lights and decorations and nativities everywhere (my mom now has over thirty). I love the smell of carmels and cinnamon jells and cinnamon rolls.

I love going to Naples in Long Beach to walk up and down looking at all the beautifully decorated harbor homes. I love late night movies with Paige. I love sleeping in. I love playing Christmas songs on the piano--and, even more, to sing all the Torgerson and Snowball classics with my mom playing.

I love (LOVE) Christmas Eve. The fancy dinner with candles and martinellies and all the turkey trimmings. I love the program we do every single year--the stories that make Mom cry, the singing, the Sees Candies, the stockings on the chairs, and the Miracle on 34th Street and The Grinch watching that happens upstairs as we fall asleep, waiting for the magic to take it's toll.

I love Paige's inability sleep and her bouncing energy at 6:30 am Christmas morning. I love the parade down the stairs as we go to greet the gifts of Christmas. I love taking our time opening stockings and watching as the Santa presents are opened (Santa doesn't come to married folk, so we patiently waited our turns as Paige and Blake make their way through their piles). I love that my dad sits by the tree and tosses the presents to us one by one. I love capturing Paige's great reactions on presents she especially hoped for or that came completely unexpected. I love the migration to the kitchen for homemade cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate and talk of the gifts.

I love the missionary phonecall as we all fan around the speaker phone and three-way in those who didn't come home this year. The jumble of conversations, the cascade of questions.

I love the lazy morning in pajamas and the slow processions to the showers to get ready to go to the Grandmas' houses. I love walking into Grandma Snowball's house and being greeted by the aunts and the 100+ santa decorations strategically placed throughout the house. I love the candy dishes and the ongoing conversations and the red sweaters in abundance. I love the traffic in the kitchen when dinner is served and the slouching in the chairs and recliners when finished. I love the music--the classic Snowball music--and the feeling of unity and we all sing the familiar carols and blend our voices in the familiar harmonies. An Old Fashioned Christmas. Were You There. Who Would Send a Baby. Silent Night Lullaby. I love it when the sweet soup is brought out and the adults come carrying their cream-filled bowls in their hands to the living room (while us non-sweet-soupers scramble for the creamsicles). I love the sigh of the day as we climb back into pajamas and watch a movie or read a new book, warm with the day's doings.

I love waking up the next morning and wishing Mom a Happy Birthday and then getting to partake of the usual festivities for that day (shopping with Mom, out to lunch, a movie). I love the piles of unwraped presents that fill up the suitcases and floorspace of the rooms because we don't quite want to put them away yet.

I love being home for Christmas. The scramble to be ready, the excitment and calm of the day, the lazy haze of the aftermath. I'm a little sad to be leaving today in just a few hours to go back to my own apartment and another week of vacation. There is nothing quite like being home for the holidays. I wish it never had to end.

Crazy car happenings...

So Saturday afternoon we were making our way down the I-15 after a glorious night and morning with Sara and Stanford (that included a salmon dinner... a full-on breakfast, fun conversation, and a good night's sleep) when something big and white and scary flipped out off the road and hit us in the windshield. We think it was a car bumper (at least that big) that the truck in front of us ran over. I was sleeping and all Jeremy could think to do in the second is duck. It didn't break through (luckily, or I wouldn't be here to write this post), but it did shatter the glass on the far driver's side and break a hole in the lamanent (between the two pieces of glass of the windshield) and force us to pull over. After assessing the damage, getting as much glass out of our clothing as possible, and trying to drive a little further, we realized that we would never make it the 80+ miles home (we were just outside of Victorville). So we did what anyone else would do... we pulled into a cheap hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant and called for a tow truck (thank you AAA!) and ate some of the most delicious food this side of Mexico (for future reference, it's called Taco Chon and it's the very first exit coming into Victorville... before it looks like you've reached civilization).

We were hit about 1:00/1:15pm and we got home about 7:00pm, so it made for a full-0ut adventure. I'm just glad we are alive!

Sleigh bells ring... are you listening?

Once upon a time there was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. And she lived in Cedar City where the snow came down so hard she wished she had a sleigh instead of a tiny, low-to-the-ground hatchback to get around in...

But that doesn't matter any more because now she has left the land of snow and is on her way to California (currently she is in her pjs at her sister's house in Vegas but will soon continuing the journey to HB). She finished all her projects (almost) and Christmas sewing and baking and hours of working... and is ready for a whole glorious week of helping her mother finish all her projects and sewing and baking. She is ready for homemade cinnamon rolls and hours of movie watching and turkey making and present giving.

And she hopes to catch up on all her blog reading and blog writing (since the internet is stable at the parent's home) and sleeping.

And she hopes your Christmas week is looking just as merry and bright!

My new favorite blog

I've decided I need to read the blog of anyone who makes homemade graham crackers (mmm...) and ties them with red ribbons. Don't you agree?

Hooray for Christmas Trees!

Isn't it cute? Don't get me wrong... we are definitely going to be real-christmas-tree folks (bought off a lot, of course...), we just have to move out of Utah to somewhere where they sell them on lots again! Our little 4 1/2 foot beauty came to us curtesy of Roberts (craft store) at half price! Can't beat that. I had all the trimmings from last year's tree extravaganza (aka lots of homemade cinnamon/gingerbread ornaments... they sort of make up for the lack of real tree smell in the apartment). I am still planning on making a fabric garland... and if my internet works and my computer works and my tummy isn't doing backflips when I look at the computer screen... you just might get to see it!

In the meantime...

Merry Christmas!